New Delhi:Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi is miffed over the targeting of party leaders by the CPI(M)-led UDF government in Kerala and has asked the state unit leaders to agitate against the move.
“Rahul Gandhi recently discussed the political situation with the state leaders. He is miffed over the targeting of party leaders by the state government which has lodged false cases against Congress functionaries. The former party chief has told the state leaders that the Congress will not tolerate the politics of intimidation and has asked them to agitate over the issue across the state,” AICC in- charge of Kerala Tariq Anwar said.
The Congress veteran’s comments came after the party launched a statewide agitation against the targeting of Kerala leaders VD Satheesan and K Sudhakaran by levelling corruption charges and lodging false cases against them. “We are telling the people that Kerala Chief Minister P Vijayan is behaving like PM Modi in this case. The PM targets our leaders at the national level through false cases to settle political scores while the Kerala CM is doing the same at the state level. We are not going to take this lying down. We have started agitational programs across the state and they will continue over the coming months,” Anwar said.
“The state unit has also passed a resolution that such targeting to fix political opponents is not good for democracy,” he said. The AICC general secretary further said that while the Congress was pitted against the CPI(M)- led UDF government in Kerala, the grand old party would continue to engage with the Left party at the national level.
“Yes, we're fighting the CPI(M) in Kerala but we work along with them in West Bengal and Bihar. The two parties will continue to work together to build opposition unity against the BJP for the 2024 national polls,” said Anwar. The Congress leader slammed the BJP for pushing for the Uniform Civil Code and said that both the grand old party and the CPI-M shared a common view over the controversial issue.
“The UCC row has been kicked off by BJP to polarise the voters ahead of the 2024 national polls and get electoral benefits. Both the Congress and the CPI-M are on the same page over the issue,” said Anwar. The AICC in charge acknowledged that the Kerala unit was very agitated over the UCC issue and had urged the central leadership to clarify its stand over the controversial matter.
“Yes, the state unit has sought clarification from us over the party’s stand over the UCC issue as it has a lot of resonance among the voters. But we are a national party and therefore have to take a well-considered stand. The AICC's view is that all discussions around UCC are without any basis. There is no proposal from the central government. The 21st Law Commission had reviewed the issue earlier and had said it was neither necessary nor desirable at this stage to have a Uniform Civil Code. We would react only if there is some proposal or draft from the government,” he added.
